Blast freezer



H. W. KLElST Aug. 19, 1952 BLAST FREEZER 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Filed June 28, 1948 /l l/ /l /1 H. W. KLEIST BLAST FREEZER Aug. 19, 1952 Filed June 28, 194s 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented Aug. 19, 1952 BLAST FREEZER l Herman'W. Kleist, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Dole` Refrigerating Company, Chicago, Il l., a. corpoE ration of Illinois Applicaties June 2.8, 194s, serai No. sans (Cl. (i2-102) 4 Claims.

My invention relates to an improvement in refriserating devieesend has for one purpose te provide a freezer for freezing ioodand Other substances. y'

Another purpose is to` provide a ycabinet in which articles may Ybe frozen, and,.wllen` frozen, may, if desiredgbe `vstored. v

Another purposev is to provide anV improved freezing andl storage. assembly which may be employed to chill orrefrigerate a surrounding space, such as a storage room.

'Another purpose is to provide a so-called blast vfreezer in which `acm-rent of Vair is circulated across the goods being stored or frozen.

Other purposes will appear from time to time in the course ofthe specification and claims.

I illustrate my invention more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings where- Figure 1 is a verticalseotion; l Y Figure 2 'is a perspective vew,'0n an; erlligd scale, illustrating arstorage andffreezing'unt;

Figure 3 isa detailthrough.an individual e001- ing element; andv Figure 4 is 'av cycle diagram, Idiagrammatically I5. It will thus be understood that when the fan I5 is rotating, air is drawn inwardly beneathrthe lower edges l3- of the doors II, and is outwardly expelled through the hoods Id and between the louvres IB.

Within the cabinet I illustrate a shelf assembly, each shelf of which is formed by a refrigeratirle plate which is part of the mechanical cooling system diagrammatically shown in Figure 4. Considering, nrst, the plates, I illustrate plane faced plates having sheet metal horizontal walls Il and I8 connected byeireumferentiel flanges or walls I9, and enclosing aspa'ce in which is an evanorating coil it. Any suitable means may be formed for holding 'the Walls Il and I8 in propel" heat exchange relationship with vthe, lcoil '26. I may, for example, partially exhaust the interior of each plate through a suitable ntting gl, which,

illustrating a mechanical refrigerating assembly l which includesrefrigerating plates in the cabinet illustrated in Figure 2. Y

Like parts are indicated by like symbols throughout the specication vand drawings.

Referring to the drawings, I generally indicates the wall or walls of `astorage vspace or room, the floor being indicated at 2 and the ceiling or roof at 3. It will be understood that, if desired, the roomor space may be suitably insulated, and the members I, 2 and 3 will be understood to indicate suitably insulated members. 4 diagrammatically indicates a door or entrance normally kept cold.

Within the space dened and surrounded by the insulating walls, oor and ceiling, I, 2 and 3, I illustrate a cabinet which may include a bottom member 5, a back Wall 6, side walls 1, a front wall portion 8, and a top wall V9. Itmay be desirable to insulate the cabinetwalls, and I illustrate the wall structures 5, 6, 'I 8 and 9 as doublerwall constructions, with an insulating filler IIJ. Doors I I are hung in suitable door apertures I2, formed in the front wall B. It will be noted, however, that each door II terminates at its lower edge, as at I3, substantially above the level of the oor. Thus an air inlet is provided beneath each door I I. The top wall 9 is broken by one or more hoods I4, each of which may be provided with any suitable air circulating ian I5 and louvres when the air within the plate has been partially exhausted, may be sealed. AS a result of this pressure differential the pressure of the atmosphere is effective to thrust the wall members Il and I8 toward each other and against the coil 2t. Refrigerating plates Of Athe type above described, since they are plane surfaced, constitute satisfactory shelf units. Since each such shelf includes vanvevaporating coil, each shelf serves as a refrigerating element,

I find that the freezing time oigoods put in the cabinet for freezing is reduced by maintaining a flow of air through the cabinet.,v The air is initially cooled by the lower platesillustrated as 22 and 23, which are located below the lower edge I3 of the door II. Additional plates are arranged in staggered relationship, I may, for example. provide plates 24 and, which engage or eXtend'to the rear wall 6 of the cabinet. I illustrate otherplates 26 and 2 1 which engage either the 'front wall or the closed door II. In the space between these directing bal-lies I positionadditional plates Vziwhichare freeY at each edge, and aboutr vwhich 'and between which air may flow in response to the action ofthe fan I t,

plate coils to the compressor 32. 34 is a pressure line extending from the compressor 32 to any suitable condenser structure 35. 36 is a collector, and 31 is a high pressure liquid line extending to any suitable pressure reduction valve or means 38. The drop in pressure caused by the member 38 is effective to cause the volatile refrigerant to evaporate in the coils 20, with the desired refrigerating eiect.

It will be realized that, whereas, I have described and illustrated a practical and operative device, nevertheless many changes may be made in the size, shape, number and disposition of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention. I therefore wish my description and drawing to be taken as in a broad sense illustrative or diagrammatic, rather than as limiting me to my precise showing.

The use and operation of the invention are as follows: q

I provide a simple, compact and eiiicient unit which may be employed to freeze foods and other substances. Under certain circumstances, it may be useful as a storage cabinet. It may also be used to maintain a relatively low temperature in a room or space in which `the cabinet is positioned.

It will be observed that, with reference to Figure 1, when the unit is used in a room, cooled air is directed across the top of the room beneath the ceiling 3 and tends to displace the warmer air which rises upwardly in the room, mixing it with the cool air. Air is inwardly drawn along the floor in the direction of the arrows, for recirculation through the staggered sets of shelves constituted by the cold plates.

I claim:

1.` In a cooling cabinet adapted for the simultaneous cooling of articles within the cabinet and of air exterior to the cabinet, walls defining a refrigeration space and an access opening thereto, a door movably closing said access opening, a plurality of shelves arranged in said space in staggered relation, said shelves being refrigerating plates having evaporators associated therewith, means for cycling a volatile refrigerant through the evaporators of said plates, said cabinet having an air inlet and an air outlet and means for circulating air from without said cabinet through said inlet, through the rerigerating space within the cabinet and through said outlet, said shelves being positioned between said inlet and outlet and defining with the Walls and closurev a tortuous refrigerating passage, said door when closed only partly filling said access opening, thereby leaving a portion of the access opening unobstructed for use as an air inlet to or air outlet from the refrigeration space within the cabinet 2. In 9, cooling cabinet adapted Vfor the simultaneous cooling of articles within the cabinet and of air exterior to the cabinet, walls defining a refrigeration space and an access opening thereto, a door movably closing said access opening, a plurality of baiie shelves arranged in said space in staggered relation, said shelves being refrigerating plates having evaporators associated therewith, means for cycling a volatile refrigerant through the evaporators of said plates, said cabinet having an air inlet and an air outlet and means for circulating air from without said cabinet through said inlet, through the refrigeratng space within the cabinet and through said outlet, said baiiie shelves being positioned between said inlet and outlet, and a plurality of vertically spaced groups of intermediate shelves mounted within the cabinet, with one pair only of the opposite edges of each such shelf out of contact with the cabinet, the out-of-contact edges of the intermediate shelves being generally vertically aligned, said bafiie shelves being disposed respectively between successive groups of intermediate shelves, the baie shelves each having one edge only out of contact with the cabinet, said out-of-contact edges of the bailie shelves being disposed alternately at opposite ends of successive shelves and respectively in general vertical alignment with the out-of-contact edges of the intermediate shelves of the groups disposed immediately above and below the same, whereby the baie shelves deine with the cabinet walls and said closure a tortuous refrigerating passage through which the air passes in a plurality of parallel paths between the shelves of each group and in opposite directions through the shelves of successive groups.

3. In a, cooling cabinet adapted for the simultaneous cooling of articles within the cabinet and of air exterior to the cabinet, wallsl defining a refrigeration space and an access opening thereto, a door movably closing said access opening, a plurality of shelves arranged in said space in staggered relation, said shelves being refrigerating plates having evaporators associated therewith, means for cycling a volatile refrigerant through the evaporators of said plates, said cabinet having an air inlet and an air outlet and means for circulating air from without said cabinet through said inlet, through the refrigerating space within the cabinet and through said outlet, said shelves being positioned between said inlet and outlet and defining with the walls and closure a tortuous reirigerating passage, said air inlet to the cabinet being constituted by a portion of the access opening located below the door, the door being shorter than said access opening.

4. 'I'he structure described in claim 3 wherein the air outlet opening is in the top of the cabinet, a tubular deiiector casing surrounding said outlet opening, and wherein the means for circulating the air comprises a blower disposed within said deector casing.' y

Y HERMAN W. KLEIST.

REFERENCESk CITED The following referencesare of record in the die of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS V 

